Stories for April 2nd 2011

Spain’s longstanding claim over the sovereignty of Gibraltar looked destined to continue into the next generation of Spanish politics as the heir to the Spanish throne, the Prince of Asturias, used a state dinner for the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall to reiterate Spain’s desire to ‘progress’ on Gibraltar.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner announced that the letter written by a teacher and voluntary soldier in the 1982 Malvinas War conflict and which he sent to his pupils is to be read in all Argentine schools beginning 2012.

Argentina will change its official protocol for visiting officials: besides the traditional flower wreath at the monument of General Jose de San Martin, visitors will also have to pay homage to the fallen in the Malvinas Islands at the cenotaph with their names at the Wall pages.

“The Malvinas are Argentine for ever” and this government “will never yield in our claim” promised President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner during the main commemoration of the Malvinas war Fallen and Veterans Day in Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz province.

Around one million US dollars of equipment and vaccines are urgently needed to help stem outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in North Korea, where farm animals are crucial to food security, the United Nations warned.

The Socialist Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, says he will not seek a third term in the country’s general election next year. Spain is in the midst of a deep recession. At 20% it has the highest unemployment rate in the Euro zone.